


The There's More to it Than Kissing Job

by GrumpyJenn



Category: Leverage
Genre: F/M, First Time, Mild Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-10
Updated: 2014-10-10
Packaged: 2018-02-20 14:53:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2432813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrumpyJenn/pseuds/GrumpyJenn





	The There's More to it Than Kissing Job

Kissing Parker for real – not as part of a con – was heady stuff. And with one hand on her breast and the other on her knee, Hardison was feeling pretty damn good about the likely encounter.

His hand began to creep up her thigh, and she tensed and pulled away.

Hardison tore his mouth away from hers. “What?”

“Um…” she looked up at him, quickly, then away. _Uh-oh_ , he thought, _that’s never good._

He removed his hand from her leg, the other from her breast, and took both of her smaller hands gently.

“I don’t like sex,” Parker blurted, and then, “At least, not with, you know, _people_.”

If it had been anyone but Parker, Hardison might have laughed at the qualifier. But it _was_ Parker, and she sounded so confused, and embarrassed, and maybe even a little scared.

And he was more than half in love with her, quirks and all.

“Why?” Hardison said after a moment. _Don’t scare her, don’t scare her, don’t scare her._ “Baby girl, did… I mean, have you been… did someone hurt you?”

She only looked confused and then she got that impish little grin on her face. “Y’think someone could catch me? I can run faster than anyone.”

“Or fork ‘em in the shoulder.” She actually blushed a tiny bit, and hit him gently in the chest, then sobered.

“No, I just don’t like it.”

“Why? I mean, why not, and why would you let me…” he gestured toward her chest.

“Oh, that.”

“Yes, that.” She still wouldn’t look him in the eye, but Hardison thought she was maybe fighting tears, from the way her skin got a little blotchy and her eyes all shiny. “Parker, if you don’t like sex, why were you letting me touch you?”

“You like sex,” she said simply. “I saw your Internet history that one time.” _Damn, girl._ “And I like… I like you.” Now she looked up at him, and one tear trickled down her face, though it didn’t show in her voice. “I thought you would like it.”

“Baby girl, I do like it. I like _you_.” Hardison lowered his forehead to hers. “I’m your pretzel, right? Right?” He waited until she nodded against his skin, and started dropping light kisses on her face. “If you don’t like sex, baby, I think you’ve been having it with the wrong people.” He tried not to think about how that was prying, but dammit, he felt jealous at the thought of anyone else touching her, and angry that whoever had had apparently done it wrong. Wrong enough to make her feel like sex wasn’t worth her time.

Hardison lowered his mouth to hers, and kissed her long and slow and soft.  “Why don’t you like sex, Parker?” He was pretty sure he knew; sex made her too vulnerable, too likely to be hurt. But he wanted her to say it, to acknowledge it out loud.

“I like the kissing, and I don’t mind the…” she gestured at her chest. Hardison just nodded. “But I... I… if there’s actual sex, I can’t.” Now she looked frustrated more than anything else, angry with herself over her inability to express it. And Hardison couldn’t stand to see her like that, so he cut her a break.

“It’s like the boots, baby, remember the boots?” He kissed her again.

“I…” Her face lit up, and Hardison fell all over again. “I have the team. I have you. And you… you got me.”

“I got you,” he agreed, and this time she kissed him.

When they came up for air, Hardison noticed that Parker still looked a little tense, but at least she hadn’t pulled away entirely. “You trust me, girl?”

“You got me. You won’t let me fall.”

“Oh, you’ll fall, baby,” Hardison almost growled, and this time the kiss wasn’t soft or sweet; it was hot and wet and needy. “But I’ll catch you when you do.”


End file.
